Posted on: October 31, 2018

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Yesterday our friends at the Miami Herald and Stewart Title connected us with national economist, Dr. Ted Jones, who dropped by our office for a private economic consultation and forecast. Overall, Dr. (“Doc”) Jones was bullish in his remarks on the strength of our economy. He pointed to US Leisure and Hospitality jobs as a key indicator (“the blood pressure”) of our economy. It shows consumer confidence and optimism.

Job growth in this sector has risen dramatically since the recession and is up 1.84% in the past 12 months.

Some other good signs?

US average hourly earnings are up 2.75% in the past 12 months to $27.24/hour. He quoted a Motley Fool article that said the Treasury Department’s new withholding tables indicated that 90% of US employees will see an increase in their paychecks due to recent tax reforms.

Dr. Jones encouraged us as Realtors to watch for increasing spending power and real estate interest from millennials. Millennials are independent and entrepreneurial – they will be a big part of our market and we will need to focus more on their needs, interests, modes of communication and ways of transacting business. This sat well with us as we see ourselves as a very tech-savvy real estate firm with a pretty sophisticated platform for our diverse clientele.

Finally, the really GREAT economic news for Florida?

We led the country in job growth for the last 12 months ending September, 2018!

And Florida is the 4th MOST favorable tax environment for property owners in the country. At LIR, we have lived and breathed this truth in the last year. As foreign investment slid, domestic buyers from tax burdened states like NY, CT, and CA have showed increased interest in our market. We’ve witnessed the increased job growth too, having relocated many new happy people here in the last year!